Henry Miller and Shōri Ueno: A Transpacific Friendship

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BULLETIN

ISSN 1347-0299

FACULTY OF FOREIGN STUDIES

THE UNIVERSITY OF KITAKYUSHU

N o .149 March 2019

C O N T E N T S

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Henry Miller and Shori Ueno: A Transpacific Friendship

… Wayne E. Arnold 1

THE UNIVERSITY OF KITAKYUSHU

K itak y u sh u , Ja p a n

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Henry Miller and Snon Ueno:

A Transpacific Friendship*

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ヘンリー • ミラーと上野霄里：太平洋を隔てた友情 2

Wayne E. Arnold

Within Letters from Henry Miller to Hoki Tokuda (1986) there are five references to a Japanese man named “Ueno-San of Ichinoseki City, The eaitor, Joyce Howard, does not clarify the identities oi people mentioned m Millers letters and therefore we are only left to surmise the role Ueno was playing in the relationship between Miller and Hoki Tokuda (ホキ徳田). The various appearances of Uenos name in these letters makes clear that he was more than just one of Millers fans, and that he was not writing a one-sided conversation from Japan. The argument of this article is to demonstrate the importance of the mendship between Henry Miller (1891- 1980) and Sh5ri Ueno (1931-),3 one that spanned a 15-year period and provided Miller with an inside view into Japanese culture and its interpersonal relationships. Deeply moved by Millers writing, Ueno initiated a correspondence with Miller in 1965. This exchange of letters

This study is supported by a Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science ( 日本学術振興会> (#18K12321).

Tms article is a revised and expanded version of a presentation given at the Conference of the Henry Miller Literary Society of Japan, Tokyo, December 2017.

I am using Ueno!s pen name, by which he is known in Japan. Miller and others who wrote to Ueno used his nrst name, Kemchi, often shortened to Kai or Ken.

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would grow into one of Millers last, great correspondences, continuing until his death in 1980. In total, the two men sent each other more than 400 letters, some reaching up to eight pages in length. Biographers of Miller have tended to give only brief accounts of his final twenty years in Pacific Palisades, California, but it was here that Miller was able to richly explore his interest in Japan and what he often referred to as “the Orient” By incorporating recently discovered letters from Miller to Ueno, Uenos letters held at the University of California, Los Angeles, information compiled from Ueno s numerous publications, as well as personal interviews with Ueno, I argue that Miller and Uenos transpacific friendship provided Miller a window into Japanese culture that was uniquely tailored to his interests and arose from Uenos intimate knowledge of Millers oeuvre. Their relationship also illustrates Millers impact In Japan, and his ability to speak to writers who shared his world view.

Millers numerous friendships with Japanese individuals dates back as early as the 1920s. Throughout the 1940s and 50s, his increasing popularity as a novelist and watercolorist brought many letters from his admirers in Japan. By the time Miller moved to Pacific Palisades in 1961, he had been communicating for Ive years with an ardent promoter of his watercolors in Japan， Sadajiro Kubo (久保貞次郎X4 During the 1950s，Miller’s most popular book to be published In Japan was Sexus (1953, Logos Publishers, ロゴス杠)， and it was this book that often became the first introduction to

In a future article relating to Miller and Japan, I will explore the connection between Miller and Kubo; in relation to this article, Kubo was an important source of financial help for Ueno, regularly sending money to Ueno from sales of Miller s watercolor prints—at the behest of Miller. Miller to Kubo, 22 O ct 1970. Henry Miller Papers. Kubo Memorial Tourism and Culture Exchange Center (久保記念観光文化交流館)，

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Miller for readers in Japan. As Millers name became more well-known in Japan and word spread of the scandalous American author being published, Millers books reached the hands of Ueno, who was then a minister living in Iwate Prefecture. After establishing the initial correspondence, Ueno began to provide Miller with a variety of descriptions of Japan. He would send Miller magazine clippings depicting Japanese society as well as news articles about Miller, for which he provided English summaries. While Ueno was offering Miller insight into Japanese culture, Miller continued to formulate his own image of Japan, one that often led Ueno to point out that no such Japan had ever existed. We can consider the contradictions between Millers impressions of Japan and the realities that Ueno shared from his everyday life by examining how Miller and Ueno discussed the intricacies of Japanese culture.

Ueno’s First Contact

On Tuesday, January 26,1965, Shori Ueno sat down to compose a letter to Miller, writing: wDear Mr. Miller, this is the 1st letter to you [...] from the unknown lover, for the freedom to write and think in literature, in the Orientw Uenos first line surely must have caught Millers attention, as he touched on two key characteristics that are important for Miller: freedom in literature and the mysterious “Orient”. Ueno’s goal was to thank Miller for his writings, that， as Ueno told Miller， “enlighten my understanding.”5 This two-page letter would mark the beginning of what I consider to be

Ueno to Miller, 26 Jan. 1965. Box 59, Folder 6, Henry Miller Papers (Collection 110). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Researcn Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

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Miller’s last great correspondence. What is incredible about the Miller- Ueno friendship is that it has been completely overlooked by Miller scholars in the West In his own writing, Ueno has discussed their relationship and provided much critical analysis on Miller. The January 1965 letter would be followed by several Hundred more， and both men would benefit intellectually as well as publicly from their correspondence. Through Ueno, Miller would be provided answers and descriptions of Japan that directly dealt with his curiosity about the country. The letters from the 1960s and early 1970s are the richest in material between the two men, as they often discussed life philosophies. Ueno was consistent in his communication, occasionally surprising Miller with his copious output Through the years, the content varied, at times dealing with Miller s troubled relationship witn Hoki Tokuda as well as discussing the stunning events surrounding Japanese author Yukio Mishimas ritual suicide. From his very first letter, though, Ueno was establishing himself as one who desires to serve his master, in whatever manner he can be of use.

Background on Ueno

Ueno was bom in Karnima City, Tochigi Prefecture (栃木県鹿沼市)• In his youth he spent part oi his time being raised by his grandparents In Ota City， Gunma Prefecture (群馬県太田市)• During World War II， Ueno attempted to become a fighter pilot, but he failed his entrance exam and was thereby prevented from joining the air force. Beginning m ms elementary school period, he had been teaching himselt English and was then greatly assisted in nigh school by a foreign teacner. His English ability was sufficient enough that by the age of 19, he was mred to wort as an

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interpreter at the Nikko Kanaya Hotel (now named the Chuzenji Kanaya Hotel，中禅寺金谷ホテル)， then under the control of the US Army, While at the hotel, Ueno met many French speakers and soon learned his third language (MThe Philosopher^ 60). After one year working at the hotel, he left with the intention to enter seminary.6 At the age of 23, Ueno graduated from seminary and became a protestant minister, moving to a church m Higashiyamato-shi， Tokyo (東京都東村山);however, he became disillusioned with the increasing urbanization and the changes he was witnessing in the post-war, westernizing Japanese society. During this period, he also worked as an interpreter at the Johnson Air Force base in Saitama Prefecture (now called the Iruma Air Base，入間基地)• Moving from Tokyo， he took up residence in a traditional thatched roof house in Ichinoseki, Iwate Prefecture (岩手県一関市).7 There， he and his wife spent the next twenty-five years raising a family of three boys.8

While living in Iwate Prefecture Ueno continued to De a minister, but he soon gave up the profession to pursue a writing career. After he first read Millers work, Ueno began writing Miller about his struggles to break free from the ministry work he no longer enjoyed. Over the years, Ueno had been developing himself by studying Japanese culture and philosophical

Ueno to Miller, 2 Jan. 1967. Box 59, Folder 10, Henry Miller Papers (Collection 110). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Researcn Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

This thatched-roof house had once been the home oi Japanese novelist Ryuichiro Utsumi (内

海隆一郎).

The source of Ueno’s history is a letter from Yoshiaki Nakui (名久井良明） to Sawaya Shoten book publishers ( さわや書店)， and from text messages with the author. Nakui lives in Morioka， Iwate (石手県盛岡市)， and has been a supporter of Ueno’s work for almost fifty years. Nakui, \ osmaki. Letter to Sawaya Shoten. 2018. Authors personal collection. Nakui, \ osmaki. Text messages to Wayne E. A rnold.12. Dec. 2018.

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topics, while also learning several languages; in order to make ends meet, he opened a small private school where he taught English, German, and French. Millers literature left an indelible mark on Ueno and convinced him there were more possibilities for life. Quitting his ministry to pursue writing had both positive and negative consequences for Ueno and his family, as it brought them to near poverty while Ueno struggled to publish his writing. During a four»year period beginning in 1967, Miller nelped Ueno by sending the money needed for Uenos middle sons medication after the son was diagnosed with nephrosis. Millers financial help during this time caused Ueno to consider Miller his benefactor, as Ueno believed Miller had saved his sons life by providing the means to purchase the necessary medicine. By 1970, Millers association with Ueno had helped bring Ueno a larger reading audience, and Ueno would be contacted by magazines and newspapers to contribute articles on Miller. The letters between the two men would continue until Millers death in 1980, but before his death， and with the financial help from one of his readers， Ueno had the chance to meet Miller in 1977, twelve years after they started their correspondence.

Miller never read Uenos writings, as translations of Uenos works have still not yet appeared in English; however, there are clear affinities in Uenos letters that resonated with Miller. Ueno has written In numerous places that his new direction became vindicated after discovering Miller. Two years after reading Millers Nexus, published in Japan in 1965, Ueno penned “My Justification，，（1967), which provides the following analogy concerning his altered perception of the world:

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completely innocent The tens, no, hundreds of death sentences bestowed upon me up to this point were all mistakes, and I lodged my appeal.I was awakened to the fact that I was the plaintiff, and I was prosecuting all of society as a defendant I became an unforgiving, ruthless public prosecutor. Day and night, I took extensive notes. In other words, all of society was a serious criminal culpable of a crime deserving over ten thousand death sentences, and those notes were long, long plans for a closing argument to prove that crime. I continued writing like a man possessed. I was lumping all of civilized society together as a whole, and my rage could not possibly be pacified until I sat them in the electric chair. Once I had fastened them tightly in that chair, once I had wrapped them In copper wires, then and only then could I breathe a sigh of relief/ (qtd in Nakui 20) 「突然に、私の内部に革命が起った。私は全く無実だと判ったのだ。今迄、何十回、何百回宣告されたか知れない死刑は、凡て誤りだったと判明したのだ。私は突然に、自分が原告になったことを悟った。世間凡てを被告として、私は訴えを起こしたのだ。私は情け容赦のない、冷酷な検事となった。私は、日に夜に次いで、膨大なメモを取る。つまり、世間の凡てが重大犯罪人であってそれは一万回以上の死刑に価する罪であることを証明する長い長い論告文の原案なのだ。私は狂ったように書き続ける。私は今、文明社会の一切をひっくるめて、彼等を電気椅子に座らせる迄、決して怒りを鎮めることは考えられない。彼等をしっかりと電気椅子に、銅線で幾重にも縛りつけたら、その時こそ、ほっと一息入れよう。」（qtd in Nakui 20)

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The echoes of Miller's diatribes against society find reverberation In Ueno s justification to pursue his new life, outside of social norms. Often in letters to Miller, Ueno would assume a much harsher stance against Japanese society than Miller had perhaps ever perceived of American society, even in his most critical moments in The Air-Conditioned Nightmare (1945). Certainly, the cultural situation of the late 1960s is to be considered when reading Uenos reasoning. The somewhat unstable political and social climate in Japan further encouraged Ueno to continue espousing ms views. In his letters to Miller, Ueno espoused similar views, engaging Millers interest and bringing the two men into an intellectual conversation, where their Eastern and Western ideas were repeatedly challenged.

Uenos literature spans a wide field of investigation, from philosophical treaties to novels of the geisha and samurai, as well as specific works exam ining Miller. Spanning nearly fifty years of writing, Ueno is still being republished, with his most recent work comprising a large collection of essays，entitled: L jrfo : Co//沉ferf Es紐 (幽篁言己，2015)• Ueno’s books were originally published by a private press named Actum Books, owned by Hirohiko Yoshinaga (吉永博彦)， and focused solely on Ueno’s publications. Actum advertised their company as being 4<the experimental publisher for the coming age of human crises,,，9 clearly tying into the idea of a crumbling society, prevalent in both Ueno and Millers work. Uenos works have received various republications over the years, and two specific books contain a heavy emphasis on Millers writing. The first notable work on 9

9 Advertisement for Ueno^ books. Actum Books, 1972. Uenos work is now being republished by Meisou Publishers (明窓出版)，http://meisou.com. There is also the New Behavior Publishers (亲斤行動社） website that features more publications D y Ueno, as well as various photographs and nistorical information about the author: https://shin-koudousya.jimdo.com/.

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-Wayne E. Arnold

Miller is Si•欺/e CH/ T加雄 (単細胞的思考，1969)， For this publication， Miller provided the introduction, wherein he described his correspondence with Ueno and praised his prolific writing ability. The second volume with a significant focus on Miller is J>妙i*轉烈 _ 观 •德r (放浪の回帰線，1972),10 11 for which J. Rives Childs provided the introduction. Childs and Miller had been friends since 1939, and after the publication of Collector^ Quest: The Correspondence of Henry Miller and J. Rives Childs, 1947-1965 (1968),

Ueno initiated an exchange of letters with Childs. Around the same period, George Warren Policy12 began communicating with Ueno, sharing a common interest in Millers writing. Like Miller, Ueno usea his vast letter writing to help spread his work, recruiting Miller, Childs, and Policy to provide essays relating to his publications. In Polley s review of Tropiques en Voyageur, published m the small Ohio State University journal, Under

the Sign of Pisces: Anais Nin and Her Circle, he notes that:

Ueno is not only a man of prodigious learning ana intellectual power, but snares Millers deep spiritual insight and his appetite for life. Ueno is, in a true sense, Millers spiritual heir. He strips away the veneer and trappings of civilization and plunges back to that elemental man wno has what Ueno calls 'the harakin spirit':

10 The French title, which Ueno gave the publication, is Pensee Unicellulaire. This book is catalogued as B208 in Shifreen and Jacksons Henry Miller: A Bibliography of Prim ary S蘭rces. It has since been republished in 2002, by Meisou Publishers (明窓出版).

11 Miller’s Japanese translator, Shigeo Tobita (飛田茂雄)，informed Miller that the correct English translation of Ueno’s Japanese title should De Tropic of Vagabondage. Tobita to

M iller,19 Apr. 1972. Box 9, Folder 108, Henry Miller Papers (YCAL MSS 472). Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

12 Polleys correspondence with Miller first began with a fan letter in October of 195b. After several years oi intermittently exchanging letters with Miller, in 1969 Polley published an article, MThe Art of Religious Writing: Henry Miller as Religious Writer,M in the South Dakota

Review.

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the courage to live in a first-hand way in relation to everything he meets; to own the element of polarity/ as he says, both birth and death, in order to create a new world out of himself. (Polley 13-14) Polleys review highlights the correlation I see between Millers nihilist perspective and the corresponding stance that Ueno assumes. The impact of Millers writing helped provide Ueno the direction in which he could pursue his own unique form of social critique against the westernizing Japanese society, and therefore, in some sense, he extends Millers societal diatribe a step beyond, attempting to awaken his fellow citizens with a shocking attack against those whom he views as committing crimes through their conformity.

Intellectual and Public Benefit

In Uenos letters, he often discussed his impressions of Japan and the disillusionment he felt with the direction of his country. It becomes clear to Ueno, however, that Miller had his own image of Japan. In one letter from late 1965, Ueno wrote, UI write about Japan and myself in relation to Japan because I want to arouse your interest in Japan. But actually, you have a more ideal Japan in your mind than has ever existed on earth.”13 This sentiment is repeated again in the letter, suggesting that Miller had been painting a picture of Japan that Ueno felt was overly glorified. Ueno would reiterate this opinion several times over the years, as in 1970, when he said to Miller, ul know, as you have mentioned, that you have been all

Ueno to Miller, 20 Sept. 1965. Box 59, Folder 6, Henry Miller Papers (Collection 110). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

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over the most important spots in the Orient in spirit and mind. You know much more about Japan than most of the lifeless people here:14 Ueno’s view is important as he supports a common opinion among those close to Miller concerning why he never travelled to Japan. The general view is that Miller knew if he had travelled to Japan, he never would have found the country he envisioned and would ultimately have left Japan disappointed. Millers friend, Brassai, gives a similar view when writing about Millers fascination with Japan, Recounting a 1960 interview with Miller and an unknown Japanese woman, Brassai* reflects on Millers praise of Japan: "Maliciously, I wonder what cruel disappointments await him in Japan. The idea he has formed 01 it is such that the reality can only disappoint him,

Won^ he find a Japan that Is more Americanized, more air-conditioned nightmarized，’ than the United States itself?” （Brassai* 41)' Brassai* would have agreed with Ueno; that Ueno—a Japanese man living in Japan—would give the identical opinion strongly suggests that Miller truly had created an other-worldly Japan in his mind

One key aspect of Uenos early letters is that they helped Miller understand why his novels had become popular in Japan. Like the sensualization of Millers work in the United States and Europe, book publishers in Japan also put emphasis on the scandalous in Millers novels. When Millers Nexus (1959) was published in Japanese in 1965, Ueno wrote Miller that the book Wwas ranked in the top ten best seller list in almost every city in Japan.w He goes on to explain that the interest began because

14 Ueno to Miller. 9 May 1970. Box 71,Folder 7, Henry Miller Papers (Collection 110). Department of Special Collections, Charles E, Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

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"people were first attracted to the sensational advertisement which stressed too much about the sexual part, and those who were just interested in that part have been disappointed with your not easy-story-like writing.w Ueno felt that Miller had given the Japanese people a great source of wisdom through his writings, but he lamented that athe great majority of Japanese are still interested [only in your] so called story. Isn^t it awful, Mr. Miller? The Japanese are still blind for the truth.,，ls Instead of looking for the wisdoms of the universe that Ueno believed Miller embodiea, he felt that the Japanese reading public was too absorbed in finding Millers seedier side, and the Japanese readers' misdirected interest in Millers work would continually cause Ueno frustration.

Ueno also reaped a public reward for ms association with Miller. By the early 1970s, Miller s fame was reaching its peak in Japan, and Japanese publishers were endeavoring to uncover any lmics they could between Miller and their country. Having shared Uenos name with various publishers, it did not take long before the intimate correspondence between the two men became a topic of interest Weekly Playboy, the Japanese edition, soon contacted Ueno requesting he provide their audience with a glimpse into Miller's connection with japan. With its tabloidesque title, Weekly Playboy published aThe Continued Letters of Loves Struggles: The Man from Iwate who Astounded Henry Miller/' in March, 1970. The author erroneously states that the only Miller publication of letters available is the Miller-Childs correspondence, and this apparently pales in comparison to 15

15 Ueno to Miller, 20 Sept 1965. Box 59, Folder 6, Henry Miller Papers (Collection 110). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

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the Ueno-Miller letters, which, the author adds, are full of details about Miller and his relationship with Hoki Tokuda. The six-page article includes a picture of Ueno and one image of a postcard from Miller; the publication certainly neiped Ueno^ own status in Japan bringing him country-wide recognition concerning his communication with Miller. The article goes so far as to credit Miller s letter writing to Ueno with helping him through his “insomnia” period related to the relationship troubles with Hoki Tokuda (“The Continued”)，

An Emerging Trope: The Samurai

While there are many themes that run through the Miller-Ueno correspondence, I want to highlight a key trope in Millers tendency to praise certain Japanese individuals by comparing them to the samurai warriors. Millers Japan was an idealized Japan—-a Western-Orientalized land of mystery. Having never visited the country, Miller s affiliation with Japan was distant, he was left to willfully imagine a country that he could visualize, often only through artistic depiction, such as travel narratives, novels, films, pictures, and art prints. For Miller, there exists an ideal state for man, a constant moving away from the mainstream trends of commodification and breaking the binds that hold men to meaningless jobs. Miller knew very well about the personal and financial struggles that Ueno faced by abandoning everything to become a reformed artist of life, abandoning popular social tendencies. The true samurai, for Miller, is not a fighting machine against the wrongs of society, but rather one who has walked away from society, as Ueno was striving to do, and Miller saw a parallel between this imagined samurai and Ueno.

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Millers idolizing of the samurai morphed into his own interpretation and therefore his view is a bit disconnected from many historical realities of the samurai. An example of this Americanized Orientalism can be found in his letters to Anals Nin. Writing from Clichy, Pans m 1933, he encouraged Nin to see the 1932 American film Madame Butterfly, starring Sylvia Sidney and a relatively unknown Cary Grant The film was dubbed from English into French, and, in contrast to the original English, Miller considered the French aa language more suited to the noble etiquette of the Samuraiw (Nin and Miller 122). How Miller envisaged French and samurai decorum is not clear, but his was idealizing the samurai behavior. While there are no fighting samurai in Madame Butterfly, considering the impact this story had on Miller is fundamental to Miller studies concerning Asia. Mari Yoshihara of the University of Hawaii has noted that, 'while [Madame] Butterfly certainly echoed the numerous existing texts of European Orientalism, the specific narrative of Butterfly and the timing of its productions were also symbolic of Americas power in creating Its own Orientalism” （975), Elsewhere, Katrin Burtschell has noted m “AnaYs Nin， Henry Miller and Japan: An Endless Fascination/' one of the few articles to discuss Miller and japan, the significance of Millers interest in Japan during the 1920s» when he first read Pierre Lotis original 1887 text,Madame Chrysantheme (Burtschell 41). Miller was certainly wrapped up in this American Orientalism, proudly stating in the same 1933 letter to Nin, that “whether 社’s because I am becoming so definitely Oriental or what， I don’t know, but I am stirred all over again [because of this film]w (Nin and Miller 123). The letter to Nin makes only one specific reference to Japanese historical culture: that of the samurai—he does not mention the geisha,

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around which the crux of the story revolves* This early clue into Millers oriental focus, I argue, highlights his lifelong fascination in the samurai culture and serves, as a whole, as one of the main essences of Miller’s interest in Japan. My opinion is directly supported In two letters written to Sadajiro Kubo in 1957, wherein Miller tells Kubo about his Impression of the film，S抑蘭 & 规 (七人の侍）（1954). In the first letter, Miller recalls, U1 was deeply impressed with those samurai, especially the leader. To me it was like seeing sZen? lived out,?16 A month later, he wrote, UI have [a] big book all about the Samurai. I am so very Interested in that period of Japanese history.，n7 It is clear to me, that from his earliest interest in Japan and throughout his life, the ideals of the samurai would direct Millers Impressions of Japan. Toward the end of his life, when he was living with Hoki and her Japanese friends, Miller would again return to Madame Butterfly to characterize his life. In the Playboy publication My Life and Times (1971),a pnotograph shows Hoki Tokuda, Puko Kurimoto, and Michiyo Watanabe singing at the piano. Millers caption under the photo reads, 'Music has always been an important thing in my life. Through my marriage to Hoki,a singer and pianist, it became more so. We have Madame Butterfly for breakfast lunch and dinnerw (Miller, My Life 30). The essence of Madame Butterfly, with its samurai and geisha themes, attached itself undeniably to Millers paradigm of Japan and continually reappeared in his interpretations of Japan, a penchant that perhaps made it difficult to refrain from altering his persona of the real Japanese individuals who 16 17

16 Miller to K ubo,17 Apr. 1957. Henry Miller Papers. Kubo Memorial Tourism and Culture Exchange Center (久隹記念観光文化交流館)，

17 Miller to K ubo,16 May 1957. Henry Miller Papers. Kubo Memorial Tourism and Culture Exchange Center (久保記念_光文化交流館).

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entered his life.

It must have been Intriguing for Miller to learn that Ueno was a descendent of samurai origins. To be exact, Uenos lineage is connected to the Yamaguchi~ke (山ロ家糸隱） samurai clan.18 After Ueno told Miller of his samurai blood, Miller would occasionally make passing references to Uenos ancestry. In some cases. Miller would directly quote Uenos letters as a means to add emphasis to his letters to Hoki Tokuda. During their troubled courtship. Miller quoted Ueno in an April 1967 letter to Hoki in which Miller was imploring her to reciprocate his love. Miller emphasizes Uenos words, suggesting tiiat their meaning carried something more significant, as they originated from a worthy Japanese family lineage:

[A]s Ueno-San writes me at the end of his last letter: aMay you be more crazy m tins love, and so become so much younger. Forget everything and throw yourself into the fire of love until the fire melts you. I like burning love, dynamic love, terrible love! Life losing love! Harakiri love, Kamikaze love. Love as a rosy crucmxion, is no ones but yours. Hallelujah! Amen!w So speaks a descendent of the Samurai. And I» who imagine that my ancestors were Mongols, Huns, Tartars, echo his words. (Miller, Letters 51)

Miller s beliei m the cultural legacy of the samurai found a foothold in his correspondence with Ueno and only further legitimized for Miller the continued signilcance of the samurai m modern Japanese society. While Millers use of Uenos heritage was designed to encourage Hoki’s reciprocation of Miller s amorous attention, it also demonstrates how Miller

Ueno’s wife’s lineage is also directly related to samurai， specifically the Yonezawa clan (米、沢藩)， and she is a distant relative oi しhisaka Hyobu (千坂兵咅|5).

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was transfixed with the idea of a romanticized Japan. In his letter, Ueno uses the terms “harakm and “kamikaze” to describe his visions of love, first in the strength of the samurai and then as dedication to ones country. Both forms of death are ritual m their nature, and perhaps these terms encouraged Miller to pursue Hoki s love until some sort of climatic ending. Indeed， Miller began the letter to Hoki with: “This is another crazy letter, perhaps the last one/' dating it as the MYear of desperationw (Miller, Letters 49).

I do not want to infer that Miller was suicidal over his unrequited love with Hoki, but his rhapsodized portrait of her as his future wife is irrevocably coupled with his sentimentalized view of Japan. Miller again returns to the samurai theme in July of 1967, when his desperation had reached a crescendo concerning Hoki. He laments in a letter to a mutual Japanese friend that, "to live without love is something unbearable. If I had the Samurai spirit I would kill myself now. But I am not oi the Samurai strain. I am just a Brooklyn boj\ as I have often said. No matter what you may think of Hoki, for me she symbolizes Japanw (Miller, Letters 63). And so, when Miller finally married Hoki in September 1967, he acnieved m connecting himself with his picture of Japan, but he had failed to allow for Hoki^ own individuality, thus aiding the quick dissolution of their marriage.

On May 27th» 1969, four years after the beginning of their correspon dence, Miller helped support19 Ueno s upcoming publication by penning a two-page introduction f o r 凡似知び鄕れ//舰 7似 (単細胞的思考）（1969), In the introduction, Miller describes their voluminous correspondence and

19 Such support was not rare, as Miller helped dozens of aspiring writings by allowing them to associate with his very publicly known name.

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provides his personal impression of Ueno—whom he had yet to meet in person. Miller wrote, ''though he does not like to use the word artisf in connection with his pursuits, Ueno-San Is, or endeavors to be, what I have called an artist of life. By that I mean a man who realizes that the highest form of art Is expressed in living/520 This opinion of Ueno still holds true today. When I interviewed Ueno he adamantly denied being an author, even though he has published over 20 books.20 21 Miller takes his admiration of Ueno a step further in his introduction, exclaiming, aIn some ways Ueno-San reminds me of those reformed, or better, enlightened9 Samurai we see in Japanese films—-I mean Samurai who have abandoned the sword out of disgust with senseless killing and who endeavor to live like simple, almost foolish Individuals, firm on their convictions and wise as only simple human Demgs who live from day to day can be.w Ueno was quite pleased with Miller’s introduction， and wrote back， “[your words about] my resem- blance to [the] Samurai is exactly what I feel sometimes:’22

When I first visited Ueno at Ms apartment In Gifu Prefecture, we spent nearly one hour talking about samurai culture, swords, and what true samurai should endeavor toward. At the time, I was a little confused and frustrated: I had come half way across Japan to speak to Ueno about Henry- Miller, and he wanted to talk about something that seemed rather unrelated. He showed me the swords and katana he had collected, including his wifes

20 For Kai Ueno. 27 May 1969. Box 68, Folder 1 1 ,Henry Miller Papers (Collection 110). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

21 Ueno, Shori. Personal Interview. 28 Dec. 2016.

22 Ueno to Miller. 30 May 1969. Box 68, Folder 18, Henry Miller Papers (Collection 110). Department of Special Collections, Charles E, Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

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tantd (短刀)， given to her by her father. In hindsight, I have a more insightful appreciation for this time spent with Ueno, andf as Uenos letters to Miller intimate, the connection with Miller and the samurai helped form a meaningful parallel between the two men—the samurai trope seems more than just a superncial aspect of the two mens friendship. Miller self- associated with the “Orient”， as noted in the letter to Aniis Nin， and elsewhere (aI find myself drawn to Japan?w Miller wrote In Plexus)^ and Ueno capitalized on Millers Aslan interest when he wrote the initial sentence of that first letter,from the unknown lover […】 in the Orient, In return, Miller would utilize the fact that Ueno was well versed In the history and culture of Japan, a ready and willing instructor to answer Millers questions.

Miller and Ueno would exchange several letters over the years touching on this theme oi the samurai. In 1966, after going to see the samurai movie Mm紐sM Mきa观 oto (宮本武蔵）（1954) with Hoki Tokuda， Miller praised the film in a letter to Ueno. Ueno replied in some detail about the author of the original historical fiction, Yoshikawa t i j i (舌川英'冶)• He notes that while the story is very beautiful, it is historically inaccurate since the dueling samurai lived during different historical periods.23 24 Ueno also sent a brochure about the film, which Miller then sent on in a letter to

Hoki (Miller, setters 26). The samurai connection between the two men

would again resurface after the highly publicized ritual death of Yukio

Mishima. The traumatic aeatii of a fellow author, a man whom Miller had

23 (Miller, Plexus 65).

24 Ueno to M ille r.11 Sept 1966, Box 59, Folder 7» Henry Miller Papers (Collection 110). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

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met briefly in Germany (しaionne 156)Henry Miller (1891-1980, made a deep impact on him. Miller s lifelong interest in the samurai is likely what drew him so strongly to Mishima. But it was not until after Mishima s death that Miller undertook his longest composition about Japan, "Reflections on the Death of Mishima (1971). Uenos family lineage and Millers life-long fixation with tins specific aspect of Japanese history helped form a bridge between their two cultures, and must have encouraged his publication on the death of Mishima.

Ueno s Continued Association with Miller

Uenos connection with Miller did not end with the American authors death in 1980. During Millers lite and for decades after his death, Ueno championed the messages he learned from Miller s writing. With the advent of the Henry Miller Society of Japan in the 1980s, Ueno found a new venue in which to publish his thoughts about Miller. Writing in 1989, Ueno praised the life-giving force In Miller s Demg: "Miller certainly lived a life he mmself might be envious of. The way people live their lives and the foolishness that can be seen in all facets of his literature exactly reflect the beauty of our hearts as we turn to his works. If it is to live and write like him, I believe that any kind of sacrifice in life is worth i t ” | ; フーには、自分力f 嫉妬出来る位に確かな自分自身の人生があった。ミラーの人間そのものの生

き方と彼の文学の全面に見えているあの愚さこそまさしく彼の作品に向う私 達の心を熱くしてやまない美しさなのだ。彼のように生き又書く為になら私

はどのような人生の犠牲を払ってもよいと思っている」（Ueno， “An Irony”

45-46). Ueno also participated m various puDlic events relating to Miller; for example, he gave a lecture on Miller at Miyagi Gakmn Womens

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University (宮城学院女子大学)， in Sendai， Miyagi Prefecture， on December 5th，1985, To an audience of over one-hundred， Ueno believed that “Miller’s letters are not yet widely accepted as literature, but the revelations they contain will surely have great influence on literature and thought” 「ミラ一の書簡は文学としてまだ市民権を獲得していないが、書簡に内包されている啓示は、これから世界の文学•思想に多大な影響を及ぼすことになるだろう」（Honda 27). These letters to Ueno were, and remain， a marketable connection between the two men. Other areas of their friendship nave also continued to be publicized: as recently as November 2018, The Yommn Smmbun one of the largest circulating newspapers m the world, ran an advertisement of Uenos books currently for sale by Meisou Publishers (明窓出版)• The advertisement lists for sale four of Ueno，s books， reiterating the fact that Ueno had exchanged more than 400 letters with Miller, and the advertisement refers to Ueno as a giant of wisdom.25

It might be argued that few authors have so publicly proclaimed tiieir indebtedness to Miller—a bold statement to make considering Millers worldwide influence. My grounds for this position are based 011 the 15-year

correspondence between the two men, as well as Uenos numerous publications concerning Miller. At one point in the early stages of their communication, Ueno wrote, WI can be satisfied with the Bible and your books. I wisn i understood more about the Bible and what you write!?，26 Following in Milers footsteps, Ueno justmed his life decisions because he

Advertisement for Meisou Publishers, r如麵’wrf SM所 6顧（読売新_ 》，19 Nov. 2018. Pg 1. (一面).

Ueno to Miller, 4 Apr. 1966. Box 59, Folder 8, Henry Miller Papers (Collection 110). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

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believed in the message Miller was trying to convey to his readers. It is not surprising that such commitment to Miller would arise in Japan, since, as Karl Orend notes, ^Miller is a writer firmly in the European tradition with deep links to Indian and Oriental philosophy and religion>, (16-17). Ueno understands Miller because Miller s writing crosses cultural and religious boundaries that otherwise might prevent his accessibility in Japan. Moreover, Ueno realizes Millers ability to discover himself through writing: "Whenever I read Miller, I see the life rhythm of a person living freely and hammering out his emotions.” 「ミラーの作品を読むたびに感じる事だが、

そこに在るのは自由な人間の感情の打ち出す生命のリズムだ」（Ueno, “On

Two” 52). Tne emotion carried over mto Ueno s endearment for Miller. Yoshiaki Nakui relates an experience witn Ueno that conveys the intimate relation between the two authors: "ijrabbing a handkerchief from his wile ana wiping his eyes, Ueno once told me that everyone ought to have someone in ms or her life who makes you tear up just by mentioning their

name/’ 「上野氏は「人生において、その人の名前を口にするだけで泣けし

まうような人物が、ひとりやふたり、居るようでないといけないね」と私を前にして言いながら眼鏡を外して、奥さんから手渡されたハンカチで涙を拭 つたこともあります」 .27 Miller’s financial aid for Ueno’s son’s medical bills, his support of Ueno s work, as well as the dedication to their correspondence were all additional prooi to Ueno that Miller lived tne way he wrote.

Within the realm oi J apanese research, the relationship between Miller

and Ueno has not gone unnoticed, although it is not a topic of extensive investigation. Beginning in 1986 and lasting through 1993, the Henry Miller

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Wayne E. Arnold

Society of Japan published their first journal series, entitled The Bulletin of

the Henry Miller Society of Japan (this journal eventually reemerged in

1998, as Delta: Studies on Henry Miller, Anais Niny and Lawrence Durr ell, and continues to this day). During the Bulletin years, Ueno submitted several articles on Miller; additionally, one critique was published: aHenry Miller and Sh5ri Ueno [ヘンリー• ミラーと上野霄里]，，’ by Daisuke Sadohara (佐土原台介)• Sadohara’s article is worth quoting at length as he touches on some of the key similarities between Ueno and Miller, as well as Millers influence on Ueno. Concerning Uenos opinions on engaging with society, especially from the stance of an academic, Sadohara notes:

As pointed out in Uenos books, those who have been influenced or “enlightened” by Miller often fail. He also notes that all people considered researchers^ are failures from the get-go. Academic research serves to advance civilization and culture, thereby gleaning the respect of society. But to Ueno, the act itself of contributing to civilization and society marks failure, as it holds no relation to the miraculous, rejuvenation, or rebirth. (Sadohara 67)

「このことからすれば、上野が同書でしばしば言及しているように、たいがいのミラー研究家、ミラーに啓発（！）されたとする作家、評論家、読者は、落第ということになってしまう。上野の筆法からするなら、「研究者」と名のつく人たちはまずもって落第である。「研究」と名付けられる学問的探究は、「文明」「文化」の発展に一役買っているからこそ「世間」の尊敬をかちえているわけである。ところが、驚いたことに、「文明」「文化」の発展に一役買うというその行為が、上野にとってはむしろ堕落であり、奇蹟、甦り、誕生とは何ら閨わりのないものとなる。」（Sadohara 67)

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Japanese civilization, as Ueno wrote in 1967, is deserving of the 'electric chair, and Ueno serves as the “ruthless public prosecutor” willing to denounce his society and send it to its demise. Millers influence on Ueno encouraged him to leave behind his promising ministry work and embrace the ideas Miller propounds: Tracticing what one preaches is at the heart of the ideals Ueno received from Miller.” 「行為と言葉の一致は、上野がミラーから得た全思想の核心である」（Sadohara 73). Modem society is to be avoided if it means sacrificing the self: 4<To Miller, or to Ueno, ones great ness is measured by how they confront life and fight, not simply by their 冒ritmgs, i'hus， to be a great person, one need not be recognized Dy society.” r ミラーにとってあるいは上野にとって、その著作によってというより、人

生と真向から対決し、賭け、ボロボロになって戦う人間こそ「偉大さ」の証

とみなされている。たとえ歴史上の偉人でなくても、自分にとって人生とまともに向き合って果敢に生きていると思われる人物であれば、有名無名にかかわらず、偉人の列に加えてしまう」（Sadohara 72). Ueno has certainly existed on the outsKirts of society, and his work—while continuing to be published—-has not received mainstream attention. Sadohara does not insinuate that Ueno is a lanure for being influenced by Miller. Indeed, Uenos own literary path has brought him followers who discovered him through nis own writing, not through his association with Miller.

Conclusion

I want to suggest that the friendship between Miller and Ueno reveals Millers interest in understanding, from afar, the complex aspects of Japanese culture, including that of the samurai. The friendship also demonstrates Millers influence in japan. I would argue that Ueno was the

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only Japanese person with whom Miller had such detailed discussions over such a long period. Even though Miller knew Sadajlro Kubo for nine years longer than Ueno, the correspondence between Miller and Kubo is small compared to the Miller-Ueno letters. One might argue that Hoki Tokuda would have been Millers greatest source of knowledge about Japan, but as Hoki herself has told me, she was raised in a Western-style Japanese family and did not have the in-depth knowledge of her culture that Miller was seeking, especially since by the time Hoki married Miller she had spent much of her adult life living in North America. The Miller-Ueno correspondence was Millers last great correspondence and provided Miller direct contact to liie m Japan through Ueno and his family, and insight Into Uenos life as a Japanese author. Ueno has long been unwilling to share Millers letters with the public; in the 1970s» he was approached by the art magazine, heijutsu Seikatsu with a request to publish some of Millers letters. Ueno refused.28 To this day, Ueno has not published Millers letters, as he told mef because he promised Miller that he would not do so.29 Miller understood that the vast chasm between the cultures of the United States and Japan could not be merged or joined, but during his entire life—-from the streets of Brooklyn to those of Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles一he had been interacting with Asian cultures. He was deeply Intrigued with the role of the samurai in Japanese history and even into modern times, as exemplified through his distress over Mishimas ritual suicide. I return to Millers introduction for Uenos 1968 bo〇K m order to

28 Ueno to Miller, 27 Jan. 1971. Box 74, Folder 2, Henry Miller Papers (Collection 110). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

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highlight my impression that Miller grappled with and went to great lengths to understand the mind of the Japanese. In Millers understand, Ueno appears to be a Japanese man who understands the dilemma of his fellow countrymen:

Though he is struggling for self-liberation he is still a rebel. In a way, he is very un-Japanese. He sees through the weaknesses of his country men, he exposes their faults and shortcomings, and endeavors to set liimself apart But deep down he remains Japanese. He can^ help it, any more than I can help being American. If he can make the Japanese more Japanese than they are he will be rendering a service to his country. The Japanese have much to be proud of, and it is to their honor and credit, in my humble opinion, that they can produce a faithful, devoted renegade such as Ueno- San.30

Millers mention of the rebel and renegade in Ueno parallels his own experiences as a writer, and while Miller was unable to read any of Uenos publications——something he lamented —he was able to form a bond with Ueno through their correspondence. Miller envisioned a Japan that was beyond the reality, but from the relationship with Ueno he knew that Japan was continuing to be Westernized, just as Count Keyserling had noted in his Travel Diary of a Philosopher in 1925, and Lafcadio Hearn before him. Japans Western turn, so to speak, worried Miller and he viewed Ueno as one of the few who might help the Japanese be more Japanese.

30 For Kai Ueno. 27 May 1969. Box 68, Folder 1 1 ,Henry Miller Papers (Collection 110). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

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Burtschell, Katrln. ttAnai's Nin» Henry Miller and Japan: An Endless Fascination.” A C咖 S》びeg: r f e A■む Ziかm r j / 似，腿/， edited by Paul Herron, vol.3, 2005, pp. 40-63.

Calonne, David Stephen. Henry Miller. Reaktion Books, 2014.

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フー像」 [Ueno Sh6ri’s Lecture on Miller’s Image as Seen Through LetteYsV ヘンリー•ミラー研究会会報[The BMlletin of 丁 he Henry

Miller Society of Japan], translated by Patrick Palmer, v ol.1,1986, pp.

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Miller, Henry. Letters from Henry Miller to Hoki Tokuda Miller. Edited by Joyce Howard, Freundlich Books, 1986.

—. My Life and Times. Playboy, 1971. Plexus. Grove Press, 1965.

Nakui, Yoshiaki名久井良明.“幸運の岩[A Lucky Stone].” ヘンソー•ミラー

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translated by Patrick Palmer, vol.1,1986, pp. 20-21.

Nin, Ana'is, and Henry Miller. A Literate Passion: Letters of Anal's Nin &

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Orend, Karl. Henry Miller's Paris Years-Reflections on a Paradigm for

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Sadohara，Daisuke佐土原台介, “ヘンリー* ミラーと上■ 霄里 [Henry Miller mA Ueno SbMi]:’ ヘンリー• ミラー研究会会報[The Bulletin of The

Henry Miller Society of Japan], translated by Patrick Palmer, v o l.3,

1988, pp. 66-71

a[The Continued Letters of JLoves Struggles: The Man from Iwate who Astoimded Henry Miller]書き続けた恋の苦悩の手紙：ヘンリー*ミラ一を驚嘆させた、岩手県の人間ダイナモ•” 遵f グプレイボーイ/ Playboy], translated by Patrick Palmer, n o.10, Mar. 1970, pp. 28-33. “[The Philosopher Hidden Away in ttie Tohoku Region: Henry Miller and

Other #orld-r amous しulturea People Praise Him as Japan’s Prominent Philosopher]東北に埋れた大哲人：ヘンリー•ミラーをはじめ世界の文化人がこの人こそ日本の哲学者’と絶賛した/’ i f f グ女餘房身/购廳心

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層批評してミラーを捉える[An Irony: Stoirf 5だ/ / 汉施辨腦•斯

andCapturing Miller’s Underlying Criticism]•” ヘンソー* ミラー研究会 [The Bulletin of The Henry Miller Society of Japan], translated by Patrick Palmer, vol.4 ,1989, pp. 45-62.

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Patrick Palmer, vol.2,1987, pp. 47-53.

Yoshihara, Mari. “The Flight of the Japanese Butterfly: Orientalism, Nationalism, and Performances of Japanese Womanhood.f, American Quarterly, vol.56, no. 4» 2004, pp. 975-1001.